Brickbat: Hold Me Back

Monkey Business Images / Dreamstime.com

Parents in Florida have sued the State Board of Education, the Florida education commissioner and several school districts after their children were held back in third grade because they opted out of statewide testing. The students all passed all their classes. Indeed, many were honors students, and the Florida Department of Education does not require that students be held back if their parents opt them out of tests.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Under the recently replaced K-12 No Child Left Behind law, there was a mandate that 95 percent of students in every school had to take a mandated test for accountability purposes.

Whose accountability? Shouldn't districts be held accountable for students failing to advance a grade?

[Adans smith]

Accountability is for the ruled, not the rulers.

[Ken Shultz]

Ultimately, I think they want to hold the teachers accountable, which is ridiculous because we all know performance based teaching is racist. And holding public employees accountable is something you're supposed to say, not something you're supposed to do.

They said those were passing and honor students who opted out of testing; I bet that really pissed the teachers and administrators off. It pulls down the average and makes them look worse if their best students don't take the test.

If only there were private schools, where teachers can get fired as fast as any other poorly performing employee. But that could never work in real life. The only way to get non-racist education of any quality is through layers and layers of bureaucracy.

[thrakkorzog]

I think I was supposed to be part of a control group for one of those proto-NCLB testing. We were all required take a test on the last day of school. And then my friends and I started asking questions.

Like does this affect our grades? No this is a test that has nothing to do with your grades.

So what's the punishment if we don't take the test? There's no punishment, but it's still required.

OK, So pool party at Jenny's then.

[straffinrun]

Hernando County lawyer says "there is no opt-out provision" & adds parents made choice

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

[Adans smith]

' You can check out any time you want ,but,you can never leave ' And morning straffnrum

[straffinrun]

Mornin'. Nothin lasts for ever but the Earth and sky.

[Adans smith]

'Planet earth is blue and there's nothing I can do'

[sarcasmic]

'We are North American scum'

[Suthenboy]

My wife and I homeschooled, to various degrees, half a dozen kids. There is a direct correlation between the time those kids spent being homeschooled and their success. More importantly there is a direct correlation between the amount of time they spent homeschooling and their current happiness.

Anyone care to guess what that correlation is?

[UnCivilServant]

Anecdotal?

[Radioactive]

racist?

[straffinrun]

Never put a question mark after racist. Exclamation point followed by pillaging is the correct method.

[Acosmist]

Selection bias, yayyy

[Mainer2]

We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents

[Hayeksplosives]

It takes a village to brainwash a child.

[UnCivilServant]

then you're doing it wrong.

[Pompey (91% LOLLOLZ)]

All it takes is time and low-level, regular dosing of PCP. And dog crates.

[Radioactive]

step 1: remove the brain...

[Rich]

I'd have fewer problems with such state-mandated tests if all teachers and administrators had to take them.

And by "them", I mean all the actual tests the students in that school system are given *and* tests appropriate to the training of the "educator".

Prove to the taxpayers you're smarter than a third-grader.